Indian Grandmaster B Adhiban beat compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the seventh round to move within half-a-point of the leader Rauf Mamedov in the ‘A’ group of the Aeroflot Open chess tournament in Moscow.
The Chennai-based GM won in 60 moves to take his tally to five points for a joint second spot. Azerbaijan’s Mamedov is the sole leader on 5.5 points.
Adhiban will meet Mamedov in an interesting clash in the eighth round. Adibhan’s compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram, the national champion, outplayed 13-year-old compatriot Bharat Subramaniyam in 32 moves on Tuesday to take his score to five points and join the group of eight players trailing the leader.
Mamedov settled for a draw with Russia’s Sanan Sjugirov, who, along with another Russian David Paravyan, is also on five points.
Among other Indian players, Karthikeyan Murali and SP Sethuraman played out a draw between themselves while the talented R Praggnanandhaa and Javokhir Sindarov signed peace in 38 moves.
Top-seed Vadislav Artemiev, who is having an underwhelming tournament, secured a win over Sanal Vahap to reach to four points.
Results: Group A Round 7: Rauf Mamedov (AZB) 5.5 drew Sanan Sjugirov (RUS) 5; Manuel Petrosyan (RUS) 5 drew Mustafa Yilmaz (TUR) 5; Parham Maghsoodloo 4.5 drew with Aleksej Aleksandrov 4.5; B Adibhan (IND) 5 beat Arjun Erigasi (IND) 4; Aravindh Chithambaram (IND) (5) beat Bharat Subramaniyam (IND) 4; David Paravyan (RUS) 5 beat Vaibhav Suri (IND) 4; Karthikeyan Murali (IND) 4 drew with S P Sethuraman (IND) 4; Alexander Riazantsev (RUS) 4 drew with Aryan Chopra (IND) 4; R Praggnanandhaa (IND) 3.5 drew with Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) 3.5; Raunak Sadhwani (IND) 4 beat Pier Liugi Basso (ITA) 3.
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